The primary focus of my lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms that determine the longevity of an organism. The main interests of the lab are:

a) The biology of Dietary restrictionb) Deciphering the molecular links between aging and innate immunityc) Regulation of the Insulin-IGF-1 signaling pathwayd) Screening for novel compounds that extend longevity

We use a combination of molecular biology, genomics, Next Generation sequencing and molecular genetics approaches in the lab. Caenorhabditis elegans is the system of choice for our studies due to its short and reproducible life span, low maintenance cost, amenability to high throughput molecular techniques as well as ease of genetic manipulation. Interestingly, the molecular makeup of the innate immune response pathways and those that regulate longevity are strikingly similar between vertebrates and invertebrates. Such conservations are a key to extrapolating the results obtained in our model system and validating them in mammals.